Chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Council Nguyen Thi Le (second from right) meets with Melissa Brown (second from left), Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US Department of State, on March 8. (Photo: VNA) Highlighting the strong progress in Vietnam - US ties, Le saidrelations between HCM City and the US have also been flourishing, especially ineconomy and trade.
The US is currently the 10th biggest foreigninvestor in the southern largest economic hub with over 500 direct investment projectsworth almost 1.3 billion USD in total. It is also a leading trading partner ofthe city with about 9.3 billion USD in bilateral trade in 2022, up 3.8%year on year.
HCM City is an economic, cultural, educational,scientific and technological hub, a gateway to the world of Vietnam, and anattractive destination for US investors, the Chairwoman said, expressing herhope that the US Department of State will suggest US enterprises come toexplore investment opportunities in areas matching HCM City’s priority and their potential such as smart city building, digital transformation,innovation, and environmental issues.
The city’s cooperation with US partners and localities in education,people-to-people exchanges, and cultural cooperation has also been growing well,helping enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two countries' people, sheadded.
For her part, Brown expressed her delight at the developmentof the Vietnam - US relations at not only the governmental level but also in such abig and dynamic city as HCM City, noting that her visit aims to step up the US’scooperation and investment activities here more strongly.
Shesaid the bilateral relations have reaped great achievements in multiple spheres,and that she hoped the two countries’ partnership will develop in an effectiveand practical manner.
TheUS is proud of the achievements in the bilateral ties and wishes to elevate itspartnership with Vietnam in 2023 as the two nations are celebrating the 10th anniversaryof their comprehensive partnership, the official went on.
Highly evaluating HCM City’s cooperation with USlocalities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, she stressed the importanceof people-to-people diplomacy and locality-to-locality cooperation to the twocountries’ relations.
The US Department of State supports the continuation ofmutual visits and people-to-people exchanges to help promote the bilateral relationship, Brown added./.
VNA
